Sajjad is proud of the way he and Asif managed to reach the last-16 while playing with the best in the world. PHOTO: FILE
KARACHI: Pakistani cueist Mohammad Sajjad said on his return from the SangSom 6-Red Professional World Championship that it seemed like both he and Mohammad Asif belonged in the professional category after the duo made it to the last-16 in Thailand.
Sajjad was outstanding in the group stages, where he even defeated former world champions John Higgins, on his way to the knockouts. However, he went down against England’s Mark Selby in his last-16 tie, losing 6-2.
Asif, on the other hand, had to work harder in his group but still qualified for the knockout stages before bowing out of the competition after suffering a 6-2 defeat at the hands of Hong Kong’s Marco Fu.
“I’m satisfied with my performance in the SangSom event because we never looked out of place among the top professionals of the world; instead it felt like we belonged there,” Sajjad told The Express Tribune. “To be honest we were unlucky to draw the best players of the competition in the last-16, otherwise we may have made it into the semi-final or even the final.”
Sajjad qualified for the professional championship after finishing as the runner-up in the IBSF World Championship, while Asif and Asjad Iqbal qualified after reaching the semi-finals of the IBSF 6-Red World Championships.
It was Sajjad’s second appearance in the competition, with his previous one coming four years ago, and he said that it is an experience that spurs him to try and achieve greater heights.
Sajjad revealed that their performances were praised by the neutrals as well as by their opponents. “The local fans as well as our opponents rated us very highly after our performances in the group stages,” he said. “It wasn’t just us who thought that we were playing well; we received special praise from our opponents as well and it can’t get better than that.”
Pakistan’s Hamza Akbar is all set to take part in the Professional Circuit and Sajjad revealed he is also looking to qualify for the circuit in order to compete against the best players on a regular basis.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Association President Alamgir Sheikh, who was in Thailand along with the players, said that he is very proud of the players’ performances. “Their recent performances against the best players suggest that Pakistan snooker is improving and we can compete with professionals as well, which is why we’ve started to focus on junior players,” said Sheikh. “Our target now is to give those players chances who are competing in U16 and U18 so that they can be groomed for the future.”
Published in The Express Tribune, September 15th, 2015.
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